Zi Zâra
=General Information= Zâra is a language that employs a trigger system. =Alphabet and Pronunciation= Vowels A vowel gets stretched by marking it with a ^-sign. Silent Vowels Many words in Zâra include silent vowels, that are not spoken under certain conditions. Usually, i''' is silent if it is the last sound of a word. Silent vowels are only pronounced when a group 2 consonant follows or when it avoids two identical consonants to follow one another. Silent vowels are indicated by brackets like so '''k(i), the i''' being silent. Consonants If a consonant is doubled, it is pronounced like in Italian or Japanese. Stress Stress in Zâra is completely regular. Every '''root word and unmodified conjugated verb (See Verb Conjugation) has penultimate stress. Every sentence has stress on the stressed syllable of the conjugated verb and on the stressed syllable of the word in the trigger position. Example: In the sentence "Cinko takagajroma n si." the stress is located as follows (bold): * Cinko taka'ga'jroma n si. =Grammar= Cases Zâra does not have any cases, atleast it is not usual to classify certain parts of a sentence as cases. However, for the sake of simplicity and to make it easier to understand from a european language point of view I will stick to the case classification in this guide. Sentence Order The general sentence order is VSO. The verb is usually the most important part. Nouns Number Nouns do not change in either form singular or plural. Number is expressed with the help of articles. A noun in its normal form can stand for both singular and plural. Articles Articles precede the noun. For examples see the Examples Section. Universal Object The word da is used whenever there is no other object (or subject) in the sentence. It can also be used in relative sentences. For examples see the Examples. Symbol is: UO Adjectives Adjectives succeed the word they are modifying. The respective adjective gets the ADJ-Suffix ja (see Affixes and Adpositions). Example: * A red house zira iru'ja' house red ADJ Adjectives can be modified by tense prefixes. See Tenses. Verbs Conjugation Conjugation is extemely simple because every grammatical person is treated the same. A verb is either conjugated or in its infinitive form. To conjugate a verb add j''' to the root, then add the subject pronoun. The resulting cluster is called the '''unmodified conjugated verb(UCV). Example: *I eat. (eat = mo; I = ro) # add j''' # add '''ro Result: mojro If the subject is not a personal pronoun, further changes have to be made. The above process still applies, but the subject has to be added as well. Example: *Mother eats. (eat = mo; mother = mia; 3.PS = da) # add j''' # add '''da # add mia Result: mojda mia For more examples see the Examples Section. Copula Zâra uses a copula which is the word (u)n(i) (note the silent vowels). Like every other verb it never changes no matter which position it is in. Symbol is: COP Tense There are 3 tenses: *Past *Non-past *Explicit Future Each tense uses a different particle. Past Symbol is: PAST The past tense particle is tak(i). It is treated like a preposition in that it precedes whatever it shall change to past tense. In Zâra every word class can be affected by tense particles. Note that the copula must remain unchanged though. For examples see the Examples Section. Non-Past For the non-past tense no changes have to be made. Non-past is the default tense. Unless there is no other tense particle in the sentence, tense is non-past. The non-past is used for both the present tense and the future tense. Which of them is meant must be clear from the context. Explicit Future Symbol is: FUT The explicit future tense particle is càzak(i). The explicit future tense is only used when the use of the non-past would be ambiguous. Obviously, it changes anything it precedes to future tense. For examples see the Examples Section. Affixes and Adpositions Pronouns Personal Pronouns / Conjugation Note: Zâra is a pro-drop language. Relative Pronouns There are two relative pronouns. One is for inanimate things, the other for animate/living things. For examples see the Examples Section Relative Clauses Relative clauses work like adjectives. =Examples= Sentences without object I eat. Omojro n da. omojro n da PT eat 1.PS COP UO Sentences with both subject and object I eat a bread. Omojro n kida. omojro n kida PT eat 1.PS COP bread A = B Trees are important. Târa n poitu. târa n poitu important COP tree I love the child. Mza n karu. mza n karu loveable COP child Location You are in a house. Co zira n si. co zira n si LOC house COP 2.PS Negation Posession I am in my house. Co te zira ni ro. co te zira ni ro LOC POS house COP 1.PS Relative Clauses Pronoun-dropping I eat a bread Omoj kida. omoj kida PT eat bread Past Tense The house was red. Takiru n zi zira. takiru n zi zira PAST red COP ART house Explicit Future Tense =Vocabulary= =Writing= --Seladwa 13:20, 24 July 2009 (UTC) Siah Seladwa This is a work in progress. Category:Languages